Existing shade control systems allow automated responses based on a time clock and solar position calculations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,949 discloses a system for controlling the lighting in a room by adjusting a shade and interior lights based on time of day, position of the sun, orientation of the window, exterior light intensity, interior temperature, and presence of a person in the room in order to balance lighting and heating requirements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,169 discloses a device for controlling the lighting level of a room by adjusting a shade and an interior light dimmer. The shading and interior lighting are controlled in a specified order. In some variants, the system operates so as to maximize the use of daylighting and limit the consumption of energy. U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,621 discloses a system for automatic control of daylight admitted to a room, operating to block direct solar radiation while admitting substantial diffuse radiation based on detected external light as compared to predetermined thresholds and information about the window orientation, time, date, latitude and longitude. These existing shade control systems, however, are typically limited to simple optimization of just one or two desired parameters and often fail to reliably determine and respond to current sky conditions.